Patriots notebook: Pats spread around the touchdowns

Monday

Nov 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2007 at 12:21 AM

Cornerback Asante Samuel became the 20th Patriot to score a touchdown this season when he intercepted an A.J. Feeley pass and returned it 40 yards for a score just 1:22 into Sunday night’s 31-28 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium.

Glen Farley

The New England Patriots have 20-20 vision.

Cornerback Asante Samuel became the 20th Patriot to score a touchdown this season when he intercepted an A.J. Feeley pass and returned it 40 yards for a score just 1:22 into Sunday night’s 31-28 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium.

The NFL record for most players scoring a touchdown in a single season is 21, shared by the 1987 Los Angeles Rams and the 2000 Denver Broncos.

The touchdown was the third regular-season TD of Samuel’s five–year career. He has also returned three interceptions for TDs in postseason play.

Beasts of the East

With Jacksonville’s 36-14 win over Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, the Patriots’ runaway in the AFC East officially became a division title.

Befiting their superiority and the mediocrity that surrounds them in the AFC East this year, the Patriots clinched their fifth straight division title while they were driving to Gillette for Sunday night’s game.

Mediocrity? That is being far too kind.

The Patriots’ three division rivals – the Bills (5-6), New York Jets (2-9) and Miami Dolphins (0-10) – are now a collective 7-25.

In securing first place during the weekend of their 11th game of the season, the Patriots tied the earliest division clinch since the NFL went to its 16-game schedule in 1978, matching a feat accomplished by the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 1997 San Francisco 49ers and the 2004 Eagles before them.

The Patriots’ five straight AFC East championships sets a record for consecutive titles in the division, topping the four straight the Bills won from 1988-1991 and the Dolphins claimed from 1971-1974 and 1981 and 1983-1985 (due to the 1982 NFLPA strike, the league standings weren’t divided into divisions that season).

Brady, Moss move up charts

With his final completion of the night, a 16-yard hook-up with Jabar Gaffney late in the fourth quarter, Tom Brady eclipsed the 25,000 mark in career passing yards, moving to 25,003.

With his second grab of the game, a 7-yard catch in the second quarter, Patriots wide receiver Moss moved past Andre Rison into the top 25 on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with 744.

No action for Jackson

One game after he was activated from the physically unable to perform list with a knee injury, 2006 second-round draft pick Chad Jackson was listed as inactive for Sunday night’s game.

Jackson is currently one of six wide receivers on a roster that also includes Gaffney, Moss, Stallworth, Kelley Washington and Welker. The Patriots must made a decision to either activate veteran wideout Troy Brown from the PUP list or place him on injured reserve this week.